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Questions RE: New System Quotes

I have obtained 3 prices for a new system to cover lawn and flower beds in an approx. 7500 sq. ft. area (60'x140' res. property with 2 storey home and front and rear yards). Two contractors priced a system with lawn and beds NOT in separate zones, and the number of heads (rotors + mist spray) in each price varied. One price had 15 rotors and 14 mist spray heads, while another had 15 rotors and 22 mist spray heads. Both contactors told me it wasn't worth zoning lawn and beds separately (but I thought it was a golden rule of irrigation systems). The 2 systems included a combination of Hunter and Rainbird components. The quotes did not specify the number of zones. Prices ranged from $3,700 to $3,834 Canadian, and included rain sensor, controller with rain sensor by-pass and backflow preventor.

The third contractor mapped out the proposed head locations on the property and provided a detailed price exclusively using Rainbird components with the lawn and beds in separate zones (a total of 9 zones with 18-1804 turf spray heads, 26-1812 turf spray heads and 7 5004-turf rotor heads). The price included a PVB backflow preventor, the ESP Mod controller and wireless rain sensor. This quote came in at $5,000 Canadian.

Sorry for the "long winded" description....but I am wondering.....

1. Should beds and lawn be zoned separately?
2. Are the prices reasonable?
3. Are some Rainbird components preferred over Hunter and vice-versa?

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by bobw</i>
<br />1) I normally will zone beds and lawns seperately. There will be the odd exception when it is a very small bed, or when a customer very specifically requests that it not be zoned out seperately.

2)What part of Canada are you in? In the Calgary area, anywhere between $300-400/zone is considered the going rate.

3) Both Hunter and Rainbird are top tier manufacturers. People may have preferences for bits and pieces from either one, but all in all, you will be getting good quality parts from either.

I am in the Toronto area. With 9 zones, $300 to $400 per zone would make the price $2700 to $3600 which is well below the $5000 quote. But that is exactly what I was looking for i.e. a budget cost per zone applicable to the Toronto area so I can evaluate the quotes. Basically my decision comes down to this: do I pay $1,300 more to isolate lawn and beds?

Don't base Toronto prices on Calgary prices! Right now, the Calgary market is full of contractors, and about half the new guys WILL NOT be in business next season. Unfortunately, a lot of them decide that the only way they can get work without an established reputation is to be the cheapest. It drags the whole market down and when they go under, it leaves their customers holding the bag on warranty, etc as well.

A couple of other mitigating factors: I usually do "dirt jobs" (i.e. no existing landscaping), if there is existing landscaping, the price usually is higher due to the extra care and attention needed to do a nice job. Also, if there is any retaining walls, etc that need to be deconstructed to get a line into or any sidewalks that need a line run under, etc. These things all add into the bill. I don't know the soil conditions in Toronto either; it could be that a lot more work needs to be done manually due to rocks, etc. Your best bet might be to ask co-workers, friends, etc what kind of prices they were looking at.

Its tough to pick a contractor. Most people have never been through the process and really don't know what to expect. In the end, realize that a poor system is almost worse than no system; and that the cost to make a poor system workable is more than what it would cost to do it right the first time.

Very good advice Bob. Would just like to add that the pricing flucuates from area to area quite a bit, but a good range for that size system could be anywhere from $2000 to $6000 at the most. Unfortunately, that is pretty dependent on labor costs, which also vary greatly depending on the area.